


To have the courage

by Narya



Category: Glee
Genre: Angst, Episode: s03e14 On My Way, F/F, Pre-Slash, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-28
Updated: 2012-03-28
Packaged: 2017-11-02 15:54:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/370735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narya/pseuds/Narya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Puck notices the stalling before she even realizes that she is stalling. And then it’s too late. // Rachel’s last five minutes before the wedding.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To have the courage

 

 

“I need a minute, please” Rachel says before slipping to the bathroom, despite everyone telling her there was no time for that.

She tries calling Quinn’s cellphone because texts are obviously not working, and sighs worriedly when it goes straight to voice mail. Not knowing what to do, she takes a drink of water and washes her hands. The door opens when she is getting paper to dry them, and she turns to look at the person out of curiosity.

“You have to stop stalling, Berry” Puck says, closing the door behind him.

“You can’t be here, Puckerman, it’s the ladies room” she says, not bothering to answer the question.

“Look, I’m here ‘cause the guy biting his nails outside is my best friend, and you are my friend too, so I have to tell you to either go out and marry him or stop stalling” Puck says, walking closer to her.

“We just have to wait a little longer, Quinn is on her way and I can’t marry without her by my side, ok?”

“Why?”

“Why what?” she asks; and looks to the mirror, the door, the floor, anywhere but Puck.

“Why is it so important?”

“She is my friend, Puck; I can’t marry without her there”

“She is your friend, but you are risking your marriage for your friend here. You have to fix your priorities, girl” he said, crossing his arms in front of his chest and looking at her like she was wrong. It wasn’t wrong to want one of the most important persons in her life with her in a moment as important as this one.

“I can’t marry without her”

“Wrong. You can’t marry Finn without Finn, Quinn isn’t necessary for you to marry him” he said, looking at her straight to the eye.

“Why are you even here, Puck?” she asked, biting her lip before sending another text message.

“‘Cause both of you are my friends, and the guy outside will be heartbroken if you end up leaving him after a few years” he said, shrugging.

“I’m not going to leave him!” she refuted.

“No, not right now, no; but, what about in a few years? When you finally own up to the fact that you are more in love with Quinn than him? Who knows?”

“I’m not…! I don’t like girls…”

“Rachel, you are brave. You have to own up to this. I’d hate to see you both be miserable because you are too much of a coward to realize now that, maybe you are not into girls, but you are into Quinn”

“Quinn is important to me but…”

“If she isn’t as important as Finn then go outside and marry him. Quinn will be sad that she was late, but there’s nothing life or death about it” Puck said, getting closer and throwing an arm across her shoulders.

“But… why can’t we wait just a few more minutes…”

“Rachel…”

“I don’t want to get married if she is not there”

“You don’t? Not at all? Is she really more important to you than Finn?”

Rachel stays silent.

She doesn’t really know how to answer that question, not yet. She never had to ask herself something like that before. But… maybe Puck was right, and if he was… God… This was so messed up.

“Look, if you want an out, then I’ll help you, but you can’t get hitched being this confused”

“… You are right. Help me?”

“There was this thing I did when I was a kid and didn’t know how to skip classes. You breathe really fast and you’ll start to hyperventilate. If you are lucky you’ll pass out. You can’t get married if you are knocked out, right? It will give you enough time to postpone this farce” he said, looking at her in the eye.

“… Ok”

She is about to follow his instructions when her phone starts ringing. She picks it up without even thinking about it, and answer as frantic as she is starting to feel about this whole thing.

“Quinn! Where are you?”

“I’m sorry… I don’t know who this is but… there was an accident… I thought she was going to stop, there was a stop sign, and she was supposed to stop… she isn’t waking up. Look, I called the 911; they should be here soon but… yeah… I’m sorry… “

She didn’t hear anything after ‘accident’.

Her knees gave up under her, and if it weren’t for Puck she might have fell to the floor in a puddle, but right now she could barely hear what the guy on the phone was saying, or the way the Puck was screaming for someone to help.

All she felt was the blood pumping in her veins and the world crashing around her.

The hand that was taking the phone from her hands and the gasps from her friends as the news traveled was nothing but a blur. And the world kept crashing around her.

Maybe she had been a coward. Maybe she had been hiding under friendship what she longed to be more than that… Maybe she had all those opportunities for a happy life and she had dismissed them because she was trying to grasp to what was expected of her, to what she expected of her. Maybe she had been a coward.

And now it was too late.

“Rachel, we are going to the hospital, ok? Can you walk?” she heard a voice. Or maybe it was more than one. She looked up to Finn’s eyes, and Kurt’s, and Puck’s.

She nodded.

“Quinn is in the E.R. but she’ll be ok. She needs us there” Finn said, taking her hands in his, and Rachel swallowed hard when she saw the love in his eyes. “She needs you there, so you have to be strong right now”

She saw it, the love in his eyes, the sadness, the grief, the understanding.

He knew. Somehow, he knew.

Rachel nodded. 

“Let’s go”

She had to be strong, for Quinn, she had to be strong. Things were going to be ok, things were going to be better, to be right; she just had to keep her head high and be strong. She had to be resilient, to be courageous, to accept the truth, and hope that maybe… maybe… 

‘Maybe’ was all there was for now… but it would have to be enough.

 

 


End file.
